Newcastle United came from behind to bag their first victory at Molineux since 2017 thanks to stunning goals from Fabian Schar and Harvey Barnes.
During the Magpies' early dominance, Anthony Gordon struck the post and Newcastle wasted a couple of good chances to take the lead before letting their foot off the accelerator as they have done in every game so far this season.
On 36 minutes a clever, quick counterattack saw Wolves take the lead after a clever step over from Joao Gomes left Fabian Schar flat allowing Mario Lemina to tap into a practically empty net from six yards. It was all too easy for Wolves to get through the defence, but there was nothing goalkeeper Nick Pope could have done about the finish.
The England goalkeeper had another big game for the Magpies making a couple of very important saves, one of which was an absolute thing of beauty from a stunning Matheus Cunha volley late on.
As is often the case with, Pope, though, it was a mixed display. The sheer panic felt by Newcastle fans when the ball comes to his feet is felt up and down the country. But for how bad he is at kicking, he's twice as good at shot stopping and that's why he's so important for Newcastle.
Eddie Howe singled Pope out for praise after the game telling The Chronicle that he was 'delighted' for Pope.
“I’m really pleased for Nick. Whenever a player goes away on international duty, it’s always a different dynamic. With the players that we keep here, we can really focus on what they’re doing and we’re in tune with their performances.
“When players go away, they miss our contact time and there’s always that trust about how they’re going to come back. But you can see how Nick has come back, and the effect he has on the team.
"He made two or three great saves that ultimately end up helping us win the game. He’s a top-class goalkeeper and I’m delighted for him.”
This comes off the back of a crazy story from The Sun journo Alan Nixon who claimed at the weekend that Sean Dyche was contemplating launching a move for Pope to replace Jordan Pickford at Everton. He's got to get that Patreon money coming in I suppose.
Some of the saves Pope has made this season have shown exactly why he was missed so much last season when he was recovering from injury and also shows just how far ahead of Martin Dubravka he is as a 'keeper.
For all the times our hearts are in our mouths when the ball is at Pope's feet, we can always remain calm knowing that we're in safe hands at least.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
![]() |
23 | 35 | 56 |
2 |
![]() |
24 | 27 | 50 |
3 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 47 |
4 |
![]() |
24 | 16 | 43 |
5 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 41 |
6 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 41 |
7 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 40 |
8 |
![]() |
24 | -3 | 37 |
9 |
![]() |
24 | 4 | 36 |
10 |
![]() |
24 | -3 | 34 |
11 |
![]() |
24 | 0 | 31 |
12 |
![]() |
24 | -2 | 30 |
13 |
![]() |
24 | -6 | 29 |
14 |
![]() |
24 | 11 | 27 |
15 |
![]() |
24 | -17 | 27 |
16 |
![]() |
23 | -5 | 26 |
17 |
![]() |
24 | -18 | 19 |
18 |
![]() |
24 | -28 | 17 |
19 |
![]() |
24 | -27 | 16 |
20 |
![]() |
24 | -36 | 9 |